Torre del Oro of Sevilla - Spain

Last month I published a post with a night view of Torre del Oro of Sevilla. This time I'm publishing two postcards with a day view.

Victoria - Australia

Shinta from Indonesia surprised me with this multiview postcard from Victoria state in Australia. This state is also the home of a penguin colony !


"Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, on Boundary Islet.

Victoria is Australia's most densely populated state, and has a highly centralised population, with almost 75% of Victorians living in Melbourne, the state capital and largest city." In: Wikipedia

Postcrossing Meeting in Lisboa and Porto 09-11 July

"Andreaeiko" from Brazil, was in vacations in Portugal and Spain during July. So we also arranged not one, but two meetings: one in Lisboa and other in Porto. I wasn't able to go to the Lisboa meeting, but I met "andreaeiko" in Porto.

From the Lisboa meeting I received these postcards:

From "PilotOne" a black and white postcard with the yellow tram.

From "geminiscp" a donkey postcard with a windmill at the back. The card doesn't say anything where the picture was taken...

From "SusanaPortugal" also a postcard with a tram.

______________

From the meeting in Porto I sent to myself this postcard as a souvenir:

The view of Porto city center in 1736.

Bunny Suicides - Germany

The Bunny Suicides are a black-comedy cartoon made by Andy Riley. This one was sent from Germany by "nordbar"

Map card of European Union

This is a Spanish version of the political map of the European Union countries. It was sent from Portugal by "PilotOne".

"The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by six countries in 1958. In the intervening years the EU has grown in size by the accession of new member states, and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union under its current name in 1993. The last amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmentally made decisions negotiated by the member states. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area (which includes EU and non-EU states) passport controls have been abolished. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintains common policies on trade,  agriculture, fisheries and regional development.] A monetary union, the eurozone, was established in 1999 and is currently composed of 17 member states. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy the EU has developed a limited role in external relations and defence. Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world and the EU is represented at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8 and the G-20." In: Wikipedia

Montserrat Monastery - Spain

"Andreaeiko" during her vacations in Portugal and Spain, visited the Montserrat Monastery, near Barcelona.

"Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey located on the mountain of Montserrat, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain.

It hosts the Virgin of Montserrat, and the Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of the oldest presses in the world, still running,] with the first book published in 1499.

The monastery is Catalonia's most important religious retreat and groups of young people from Barcelona and all over Catalonia make overnight hikes at least once in their lives to watch the sunrise from the heights of Montserrat. Virgin of Montserrat (the black virgin), is Catalonia's favourite saint, and is located in the sanctuary of the Mare de Deu de Montserrat, next to the Benedictine monastery nestling in the towers and crags of the mountain. The Escolania, Montserrat’s Boys’ Choir, is one of the oldest in Europe, and performs during religious ceremonies and communal prayers in the basilica.Montserrat, whose name means serrated mountain, is 48 kilometres (approx 30 miles) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road, train or cable car.

At 1236 metres (4055 ft) above the valley floor, Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia. The stone monolith is ideally located to play an important role in the cultural and spiritual life of Catalonia.

The Basilica houses a museum with works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors including works by El Greco, Dalí, Picasso and more. Montserrat's highest point, Sant Jeroni, can be reached by a footpath from the topstation of the funicular Sant Jeroni. From Sant Joan, almost all of Catalonia can be seen and on a clear day the island of Majorca is visible." In: Wikipedia

Multiview of Milano

Italy is a country that I love, but I've never been in Milano (Milan in English). "Mediolanum-card" sent a multiview card of the city with the Cathedral, the Navigli canal system made by Leonardo Da'Vinci and a Palace (not sure which one).

"Milan is a city in Italy and the capital of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza (created in 2004 splitting the northern part from the province of Milan itself), is one of Europe's largest with an estimated population of over 4 million spread over 1,980 km2 (764.48 sq mi), with a consequent population density of more than 2,000 inhabitants/km². The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper following the great economic boom of the 1950-60s and massive commuting flows suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of the city proper and its agglomeration, creating a metropolitan area of 7.4 million population expanded all over the central section of Lombardy region. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density." In: Wikipedia

"The navigli was a system of navigable and interconnected canals around Milan, in Lombardy, Northern Italy.

Five canals made up the system:

1)Naviglio Grande

2)Naviglio Pavese

3)Naviglio Martesana

4)Naviglio di Paderno

5)Naviglio di Bereguardo

The first three were connected through Milan via the Fossa Interna, also known as the Inner Ring. The urban section of the Naviglio Martesana was covered over at the beginning of the 1930s, together with the entire Inner Ring, thus sounding the death knell for the north-eastern canals. Commercial carrying continued on the Naviglio Grande, but the decline was steady and by the sixties it was over for good.

Today they are mostly derelict, unnavigable, or used for irrigation. However, plans are afoot to restore the Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese to through navigation." In: Wikipedia

Multiview of Netherlands

My friend "tralhas" was in vacations in Amterdam and she sent this great card showing 3 aspects of the Netherlands: the tulips, the windmills and the canals.

"The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organized as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.[9] The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces, which is a case of pars pro toto (see terminology of "the Netherlands").

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one meter above sea level. This distinct feature contributes to the country's name in many other European languages. (e.g. French: Les Pays-Bas and Spanish: Países Bajos, literally means "The Low Countries"). Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts." In: Wikipedia

Postcrossing Meeting in Verla 07 August

"Dollart" from Finland sent this postcard from the Postcrossing Meeting in Verla, 07-08-2011.

"Verla at Jaala, Kouvola, Finland, is a well preserved 19th century mill village and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The first groundwood mill at Verla was founded in 1872 by Hugo Nauman but was destroyed by fire in 1876. A larger groundwood and board mill, founded in 1882 by Gottlieb Kreidl and Louis Haenel, continued to operate until 1964.

The historical paper mill turned museum of board mill technology. The historical machines were preserved in their places (except for several pieces brought from other buildings), so a guided tour to the mill follows the technological process from timber cutting and pulp production to board drying, sorting, and packing." In: Wikipedia

"The Verla groundwood and board mill and its associated residential area is an outstanding, remarkably well-preserved example of the small-scale rural industrial settlements associated with pulp, paper and board production that flourished in northern Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a handful of such settlements survive to the present day." In: UNESCO

Schi, a Russian traditional soup

Anastasia from Russia sent this postcard with the recipe of the Schi soup.

"Schi took a special place among national soups. Historians suppose that this dish was known long time ago before Adoption of Christianity in the Rus. Once all soups were called Schi. Now Schi are cabbage soups. There are a lot of Russian proverbs about schi: "Good wife is not the one who speaks well, but who cooks schi well". Schi are cooked on meat, fish or mushroom broths. Schi with meat are served with a meat piece in the plate. Pies and Koulebyaki are very good with Schi." In: Russian Foods